Timothy Corrigan, University of Pennsylvania
Pedagogy Award, 2014
SCMS - Society for Cinema and Media Studies
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN PEDAGOGY AWARD
Committee Chair Michael Zryd, York University
Within a field of extraordinarily strong nominees for the SCMS Pedagogy Award, Timothy Corrigan was nonetheless the unanimous choice of all members of the Award Committee. The scope of Corrigan’s career as a teacher, both in terms of his 35 years of experience, and the range of his many accomplishments, traverses all of the fields included in the award criteria. The first field is instruction, which includes classroom teaching, supervision and mentoring of both students and faculty, and community engagement. The second field is service in cinema and media pedagogy, which includes curriculum and program development, and the organization of teaching and professional development workshops. In both of these areas, Corrigan’s work is remarkable, dedicated, and innovative. But it is in the third category of “publication and development of educational materials” where Corrigan’s influence, accomplishments and service to pedagogy are so extraordinary and indeed possibly unsurpassed in the field. As one committee member put it, “I find myself in awe of Corrigan's ability to present complex ideas and histories to undergraduate (and faculty) readers in accessible, lively, and jargon-free prose (now that I realize just how difficult that it is to do).” His dossier was full of testimonials to the quality and utility of his many scholarly books and textbooks. But perhaps most importantly, the dossier brimmed over with words of warmth, respect, and appreciation for the quality of Corrigan’s labour and character, clearly in reciprocation for the many ways that, over many years, Corrigan’s dedication to pedagogy has touched many people’s lives.